The origin of this delectable pastry is unclear. Larousse Gastronomique references Catherine de' Medici's chef for the invention of pâte à choux and French chef Antonin Carême for the invention of the eclair in the 19th century. Other sources refute this as a myth, reporting recipes for filled choux pastry appearing much earlier and in many other countries. For me, an eclair is quintessentially French (the word means a flash of lightning, incidentally), whomever may have invented it, and I was thrilled to be making them.

The Pierre Hermé recipe consists of choux pastry filled with the most decadent crème pâtissière and then topped with a lovely bittersweet chocolate fondant. The rules of the challenge stated that if we could substitute one of the chocolate components (pastry cream or glaze) with whatever we liked. Because I'd never made this recipe before I wanted to taste it as intended and made it exactly as written. I topped half of the chocolate-filled eclairs with the chocolate fondant and then made a coffee fondant for the rest.

August 08, 2008

Who knew fresh fruit could become so overwhelming? When we joined our CSA I was much more concerned about using up the vegetables and happily signed up for a fruit share with nary a reservation. I'm not exactly complaining, mind you, I just wasn't prepared for the volume of fruit needing to be used immediately. This is the glorious difference between fruit harvested before it's ripe for the purposes of shipping, and fruit picked at the height of juicy ripeness-- and, man, does it ever taste better. It just doesn't keep.

So when we were presented with a pint of sugar plums, a pint of apricots and two pounds of peaches (and lord help me, we still had some plums left from the previous week!), I knew I had to do something with them immediately. Fortunately, I have that super-easy and oh so decadent cobbler recipe, which is basically a layer of whatever fruit you like topped with a layer of bread cubes (I like to use brioche), soaked with a butter, egg and sugar mixture and then baked until the bread gets nice and golden.

I decided to pit and slice all of the fruit I had on hand, figuring the different flavors would compliment each other. I peeled the peaches, but lazily left the skin on the apricots and plums. And instead of cinnamon, I used ginger. I also baked individual small dishes, instead of one large one, which is a bit fussy, but looks too cute for words.

Place the fruit in the bottom of a round baking dish, toss them with as much ginger as you like, and then layer the brioche cubes over them.
Mix the melted butter with the sugar and flour and then add the beaten egg and mix well.
Pour the sugar mixture over the brioche cubes.
Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes.

July 30, 2008

Well it's been hot and sticky here in Brooklyn and by the time I finished my latest Daring Bakers challenge I was hot, sticky and covered in chocolate ganache. But I was also happy because our challenge this month, hosted by Chris of Mele Cotte, was to make a hazelnut gateau from the book Great Cakes by Carol Walter.

What a great boozey cake! Layers of hazelnut genoise coated with rum sugar syrup and then filled with the most fabulous praline buttercream (containing both rum and Grand Marnier!). Sounds decadent already, right? But there's more! The assembled layers are sealed with an apricot glaze and then coated with shiny dark chocolate ganache, which contains more Grand Marnier!

I admit the extremely hot weather caused me to keep putting off getting this baby made... but I finally decided to jump in. I followed the recipe exactly, with three small changes: I used two 7 inch pans (whole
genoise recipe) and then split each layer in two, resulting in a four layer cake; I did not use any whipped cream between the layers, as I felt the buttercream (and syrup and preserves and ganache!) were enough; and I used a different recipe for Swiss Buttercream (Carol Walters recipe was too fussy for me).

I like to taste a cake as it is intended before I make variations and I'm really glad I did with this one, as I loved the
orange and rum flavors with the hazelnut. That praline butter cream is effing fabulous!

I broke the process up into two days worth of steps: making the genoise, syrup and buttercream, and then assembling the layers up to the point of sealing them with the apricot preserves on the first day and then wrapping the assembled cake in plastic and popping it in the refrigerator to chill. The next day I made the ganache, coated the cake and then piped out some frou frous with more buttercream.

I had a vision for my finish, that involved very detailed and ornate piped scrolls and leaves, but unfortunately it didn't work out. I could see the effect I wanted in my head, and I was able to draw it on paper, but the force was not with me. In fact, I'd say the force was entirely against me, as the kitchen was very warm, the buttercream was very soft and getting softer with every second, and my hand was not steady. The saddest part is that once I made the first scroll I was committed. There was no scraping the buttercream off the ganache and starting over with simple piped shells (I am the champion of shells!). Poor Jack had to listen to me swear and mutter for an hour.

Still, when we ate the first piece we were impressed. The complex layering of the flavors together really worked! Great challenge, Chris! You can click the link to see the recipe.

July 15, 2008

I have to confess that blueberries are not my favorite fruit. I like them, but I don't long for them, as I do for other berries. And I've never liked them as the main attraction in pie or cobbler, preferring them as a compliment to other fruits instead. I adore them mixed with sliced strawberries in a big bowl and then served with yogurt and a sprinkling of granola for crunch... there's something about that combination of the sweet strawberries and the tangy yogurt that brings out the best in the blueberries.

So when I had a pint of CSA blue berries to use up last week (and lord, I got another pint on Saturday!) I was a bit torn about what to do with them. Strawberry season is over, so my beloved mix of berries was not an option. And blueberry jam or pie or cobbler was out because I just don't like all that concentrated blueberry flavor, and it was too hot to consider baking.

Thank heavens for Google. Honestly, I don't know anymore how I've ever managed without it. In my search for quick no-cook blueberry recipes I found one for a parfait that suggested using a microwave to heat the blueberries with a few tablespoons of preserves and then layering the cooled berry mixture with ice cream. This solved all of my problems as it meant I could introduce that strawberry flavor I like so much, and it meant I could keep my kitchen cool. We had no ice cream, so I used the cream, sour cream and sherry mixture in the Rhubarb Parfaits I posted about last month.

Success! The strawberry jam and the slightly tangy cream mixture worked perfectly with the blueberries.But tell me, what do I do with the latest batch?

This goes out to Susan, of Food Blogga, who is hosting this month's Sugar High Friday, an event originally created by Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess. Susan would like to see what you can do with berries, so get going! Entries are due by August 3rd.

In a small bowl, combine the blueberries and preserves. Cook on high in a microwave for about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring twice, until the blueberries are softened. Cover and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Beat the heavy cream and confectioners sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Add the sour cream and Sherry and beat until it returns to stiff-peak stage.

Layer the berries and whipped cream in each of 4 (6-ounce) glasses, as pictured. Chill until ready to serve.

We have black cherries and sour cherries, and Queen Anne cherries. We have cherry juice on our fingers and running down our chins.

We also have the most sinful cherry cobbler ever just out of the oven. I'm not sure I can really call this dessert a cobbler, as it's topped
with cubes of brioche rather than biscuit batter, but I can't think of
anything else to call it-- it certainly isn't bread pudding, as it
contains no milk or cream.

I got this recipe from my mother, who made it for us while
we were visiting in May. She got it from a neighbor, and the original
calls for slices of white bread, crusts removed, layered over peaches
and topped with an evil mixture of melted butter, sugar, flour and
egg. Naturally I decided to make it even more evil by substituting
brioche cubes for the bread slices, and our fresh cherries for the peaches.

The sugar topping oozes down into the cherries and gets absorbed by the brioche. Eat it warm. You won't regret it.

July 07, 2008

Last week was the end of the CSA strawberries, and man, were they ever ripe. All the way home winced with every jiggle of the bag and wondered what on earth we were going to do with them. We'd already made jam... and shortcake... and even salad! What to do?

Fortunately, Nicole over at Baking Bites had the perfect recipe for mushy berries. She calls them Strawberry-Lemonade bars, but we immediately dubbed them Pink Lemonade Bars, as they taste just like... well, like pink lemonade! We loved them and will probably make variations all summer long as we work our way through blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. You can see Nicole's recipe here... and be sure to try it!

June 29, 2008

Everywhere you look today it's Danish Pastry. Why? Because Kelly of Sass and Veracity and Ben of What's Cooking? selected Danish Braids for the Daring Bakers June challenge. Both Kelly and Ben thought the selected recipe, from Sherry Yard's The Secrets of Baking, would be a great way to introduce the rewards of laminated dough. Danish pastries are in the same family as puff pastry, so this challenge was a great jumping off place for those of us who (thankfully) missed the croissant challenge.

Every month's challenge has a few strict guidelines and some areas left open to each baker's own interpretation and preferences. Kelly and Ben asked that we follow the recipe for the dough to the letter, but encouraged us to use whatever fillings we'd like. We also had to make at least one braid--the recipe yields enough dough for two braids, and we were free to do whatever we liked with the second half of the recipe.

I loved this challenge and this recipe. The dough itself is made with ground cardamom and orange zest, which imparted the most heavenly smell to our apartment (Jack gets kudos for grinding whole cardamom pods for me in a mortar). I made one braid early in the month and froze the rest of the dough while I mulled over what I'd do with it. Ultimately I loved the braid so much that I just made a second one. I really wish I had doubled the recipe, so that I could say I still have some of that fabulous pastry in my freezer!

June 23, 2008

When it comes to strawberry shortcake I'm firmly in the biscuit camp. That's how my Grandmother and my Mom always made it, and that's how I make it. I don't mind eating versions made with sponge cake... but you'll never see it made that way in my house. Proper strawberry shortcake is assembled from split just-out-of-the-oven biscuits graced with a dab of butter, over which are layered a LOT of sliced berries covered with a crown of whipped cream.

Our CSA fruit share this weekend included two quarts of strawberries again, which
were so ripe we were afraid we wouldn't be able to get them home before
they turned into juice. You can see that a few of them look suspiciously dark and mushy, and there was no keeping any aside for another dish later, so we quickly rinsed and sliced them and resigned ourselves to a strawberry shortcake blow-out.

For this month's Taste and Create I was partnered with our hostess, Nicole of For The Love of Food. She literally saved my butt, because she had a really beautiful photo of and recipe for buttermilk biscuits... and I had all those berries to use! I usually make my biscuits with cream when they're going to embrace berries, but these buttermilk biscuits looked too good to ignore. Unfortunately, my annoying and badly calibrated oven was running hot, and crisped up the bottoms before the biscuits got a chance to really rise, but I must say they tasted lovely. Do visit Nicole's post to see how they ought to look!

Prepare the berries:
Pick through the berries and set aside a few for garnishing. Wash, hull and slice the rest of them and toss with sugar to taste. Chill until serving time.

Make the biscuits (recipe courtesy of For the Love of Food):
Preheat oven to 235°C (450°F).

Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the Butter in smaller chunks and cut together with a fork or pastry cutter until there are just tiny little pea-sized crumbles. Then, add the butter milk and mix in, once it gets too sticky, use your hand to mix.

Spread a teeny tiny bit of flour onto your counter top - I mean a supper thin layer, we don’t want too much to transfer to the biscuits, we just don’t want the dough to stick. Ok, now make the dough into a ball, take your rolling pin, and beat it. Give it about 4-6 whacks and then fold it in half. Do this over and over until you’ve done it 10 times. Then, roll the dough out so that it’s about 2 cm thick (about 3/4 inch). Then, cut the biscuits with a cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, or metal measuring cup. You will have some dough left over, fold and whack, fold and whack - 2 times is enough. Then roll it a bit, and cut again, until there’s no dough left.

Place them on a baking sheet really close together (touching sides) so that they rise up and not out. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Assemble the shortcakes:
Whip the cream (I don't add sugar, but you can add a tablespoon of confectioner's sugar if you like). Split the warm biscuits and place a pat of butter on one half of each biscuit. Spoon the strawberries over the buttered half and add a dollop of whipped cream. Set the tops back on and dollop more whipped cream over them. Garnish with a whole berry.

June 12, 2008

Last week I posted that we hadn't had any real warm weather yet... and ruined everything by mentioning it. The very next day a heat wave rolled over us that has just laid us out flat. It's been hot. Not uncomfortably warm, but H-O-T hot and sticky. Heatwave hot. Excessive Heat Warning hot and people are seriously cranky. So hot that we're living in the two air conditioned rooms of the apartment wand wearing damp towels on our necks and we've retired the gas oven for the season. You just can't bake with an old not too well-insulated stove in the un-air conditioned kitchen of a sixth floor walk-up. The consequences are dire. Trust me on this. Even boiling water noticeably heats brings the temperature up.

It cooled off a little last night, but I know better. The heat will be back and it's time to institute some very strategic cooking methods for the next few months. Salads will feature prominently on the menu. Meats will either be slow cooked or quickly grilled on the stove top (how I wish I had a yard for a barbeque!). The slow cooker will be used whenever feasible, as will the microwave. Unavoidable oven usage will take place in the very early mornings.

And that Rhubarb Crunch recipe I was so excited about? It morphed
into nice chilly parfaits. Instead of simmering the rhubarb on the
stove for 20 minutes I stuck it in the microwave for five minutes,
stirred it and gave it another five minutes.

Cook the rhubarb and granulated sugar in a wide 3- to 4-quart heavy
saucepan over moderately high heat, stirring constantly, until rhubarb
begins to give off juices. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring
frequently, until the rhubarb falls apart and is reduced to about 1 1/2
cups (about 20 minutes). Transfer the rhubarb to a metal bowl set in a
larger bowl of ice and cold water and chill, stirring occasionally,
until cold, about 5 minutes.

Beat the heavy cream and confectioners sugar in a bowl with an
electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Add the sour cream and
Sherry and beat until it returns to stiff-peak stage.

Layer rhubarb, whipped cream, and 1 1/2 tablespoons gingersnap
crumbs in each of 4 (6-ounce) glasses, as pictured. Chill until ready
to serve.

June 09, 2008

Finally! Our local Farmer's Market has rhubarb! Living in the Northeast can be frustrating sometimes, as I surf around and see so many of my fellow food bloggers creating mouthwatering food out of seasonal fruits and vegetables I'm still waiting for (I'm looking at you, Susan!). But Saturday I was thrilled to find an abundance of gorgeous long stalks of rhubarb and grabbed a bagful-- enough to make two things I've had on my list for ages.

The first is a simple rhubarb-orange marmalade recipe, which sounded so fresh and tart and delicious when I came across it that I bookmarked it for future reference and stuck a note on my refrigerator to remind me. The second is the recipe for rhubarb crunch from Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. If you haven't read this book yet you really should.

I haven't gotten to the rhubarb crunch yet, but I've finished making the marmalade, which is exactly as I'd imagined it would be. The oranges and rhubarb balance each other perfectly, neither one of them upstaging the other, and it' has the slight bitterness that all good marmalades maintain. The consistency is just how I like it, too-- set, but very spreadable. This marmalade has a beautiful color, too--deep red/orange in the jar and almost amber when spread.

Rhubarb-Orange Marmalade
makes about six 4-oz jars

6 cups chopped fresh rhubarb5 cups sugar2 medium oranges

Combine the rhubarb and sugar in a large heavy pot. Cut the oranges into quarters, removing any seeds, and grind them (including the peels) in a food processor. Add them to the rhubarb and sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered and stirring often, until marmalade sheets from a spoon, about 1 hour. If you don't have a heavy bottomed pot you might want to use a heat diffuser to avoid burning.

Pour into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Adjust the caps and process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.